10 Common Smoking Triggers

Eating is the one thing on this list that absolutely can't be avoided. After a satisfying meal, the urge to smoke can be strong. This may be tied to dopamine, like stimulation, since eating a great meal can certainly increase your brain's natural happy drugs. It might also be a way to relax after the relatively taxing activity of eating (sometimes too fast) or the addition of wine with a meal. Most likely, though, it's habitual. Having a smoke after dinner was a socially reinforced habit for many years. Even in modern times, most smokers will wait until the food is cleared before lighting up, just out of politeness, not wanting to mar the smell or taste of the food until everyone is finished. So the enforced wait of dinner only tends to add to a cigarette's appeal, making this time another trigger to be on the lookout for.